


Let's Go Have Fun

by cantthinkofausername_B_Pike



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: AU-Beach Vacation, AU-Different First Meeting, Fluff, Multi, Not Canon Compliant, and Malec, but the Malec comes later, is it book canon? is it show canon?, it's mostly the gang bonding, road trip?, take your pick, this is just pure fluff, who knows really - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2017-07-09
Packaged: 2018-11-08 05:18:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11074845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cantthinkofausername_B_Pike/pseuds/cantthinkofausername_B_Pike
Summary: Alec needs a day off, and his family realizes this before he does. Their solution? A road trip to the beach for Max's birthday.The beach house next to theirs is owned by one Magnus Bane, who has a tendency to throw loud parties late into the night and leave glitter everywhere.Rating is up to Teen because of a joke made in chapter 4. The rest is G.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Guess what season it is? Tourist season. Tourist season in my life made me think: "what if Malec were being tourists?"  
> And from there: "what if Malec met while being tourists??"  
> This was supposed to be a short oneshot about this idea but well, here we are. And they haven't even left New York yet.
> 
> Title is from Fun by Troye Sivan because that song is fantastic

Alec was perfectly fine with working. Patrolling, killing the occasional demon, stopping the occasional rogue Downworlder. It may be a little boring, but it was something he was used to. However, recently it seemed like his siblings were a little less than satisfied with the routine. 

  


First, it was Izzy. A couple weeks ago, she had practically ambushed him while he walked back to his room. "Hey big bro!"

"Hey, Izzy." Right then, Alec was not in the mood to talk. He had just come back from what had to be one of the most boring patrols of his life. The entire afternoon and most of the evening had been spent doing surveillance. Early that morning, the Institute had received a tip about a possible Circle meeting in a warehouse by the docks, and perching on a roof all day waiting for the meeting that _never happened_ was draining.

"What's up? You seem to be _in a mood_. Did something happen?" Izzy, despite having been on the same patrol, was just as energetic as ever.

"Nothing, just a long day."

"You know what might help?" Izzy sounded slightly nervous, something so rare for her that Alec stopped walking. "I have an invite to this party tomorrow- you should come with me!"

Alec rolled his eyes. Izzy knew as much as anyone of his dislike for parties- for social interaction in general. "No thanks sis. I'd rather just sleep, maybe catch up on some reports I meant to send in to the Clave."

"Okay then, if you say so," Izzy laughed. "You'll be missing out. It's supposed to be the biggest event all summer. _Everyone_ will be there. But if you'd rather stay home, be my guest." She practically skipped away; she had an unbelievable amount of energy for the middle of the night.

  


Next, it was Jace. The two of them had grabbed some food on the walk back from a visit to Clary's. Jace, as her boyfriend, had been required to attend some form of "family bonding time" that Jocelyn had decided was necessary. Alec had been dragged along because, in Jace's words, "I'm not suffering alone. As my _parabatai_ , if I have to do this, so do you." Despite Alec's protests that _this was a family event, Jocelyn said family, I am Clary's friend but this is completely different_ , he found himself walking through Central Park holding a truly questionable concoction from a food truck after an evening spent playing extremely cliché games (Jace even won at _Scrabble_ , was there anything he wasn't good at?).

"You know, Alec," Jace said as he took a bite of his fried-burrito-like dinner, "we really should get out more. Y'know-" At this point, his words became indecipherable due to the sheer amount of food he was eating. "...like that's _boring_."

"What?" Alec was not really curious, as he had had many similar conversations with his family in the past. It was more of a reflex- when you couldn't understand what someone was saying, you asked them to repeat it.

"I love Shadowhunting as much as the next person," Jace began. Alec thought Jace loved Shadowhunting much more than the next person, perhaps more than any person really should. But he wasn't really one to talk about fighting demons instead of working through problems. "But still, you've gotta do other things sometimes. We've been in the Institute for such a long time- when was the last time we really had fun?"

Alec was not interested in having this conversation. "I have fun."

"Yeah? Like when? When was the last time we all did something that didn't have to do with demons?"

Jace was starting to get a look that meant he was thinking of something (probably something dangerous and illegal) that only he would consider 'having a good time.' "Oh, don't even think about it Jace. We just did earlier! What else would you call playing Jenga with Clary's family? Besides, hunting demons is important. We're protecting the city, in case you'd forgotten."

"Fine." Jace rolled his eyes. "But you and I both know that game night was not your idea of a good time. To be perfectly honest, it wasn't mine either, but some things just have to be done."

"It was fine." Alec was _so done_ with this conversation. At least Jace had stopped trying to set him up with random girls, something that had happened with alarming frequency for the past year- that had been embarrassing. And awkward.

"You say that now, but you forget. I'm your _parabatai_ , I know things. I can sense when you're unhappy."

"I'm not unhappy."

Jace sighed. "Okay. Whenever you want to talk, I'm here. If you want to blow stuff up, I'm here for that too."

Alec was seriously considering causing Jace to cross paths with a duck from the nearby lake if he didn't stop talking, but thankfully, Jace noticed his mood and continued walking in silence.

  


A week or so later, it was Max. "Alec!" He shouted, running down the hall after his brother. "I finished my book!"

"That's cool. How was it? What were you reading?"

Max began a long and rambling explanation of the plot of not just the book in his hand, but every other book in the series as well. As he spoke, he was waving it around wildly in the air. "And so I need you to take me to the store and get the next one," he finished. "And I also need you to take me to the panel next month."

Alec knew he was going to regret it, but he asked anyway. "What panel? What even is that?"

Max's eyes lit up at that question. From what Alec gathered from his long explanation, the book Max had just finished also had a television show (something called an anime?) and all of the voice actors were going to talk about the show together for an audience. While he had absolutely no interest in this, and didn't understand why anyone did, he could tell just how excited Max was. However, the kid didn't seem to understand one thing. "The panel is in Florida. I can't get away from the Institute that long, not with Valentine around. Why don't you ask Simon? I'm sure he'd love to go- he's into that stuff too right?"

"Sure," Max said, but he looked disappointed. "I just- We never do anything. You're always busy. But I'll ask Simon and Clary if they can take me."

"Sorry kiddo. Valentine- there's a lot going on," Alec hated to let his little brother down. He was right, they hardly ever spent time together. Max would usually play with Izzy or Jace instead of him, since he was always involved in official Clave business.

Max turned and slowly walked back to his room, the book swinging with his steps.

  


Currently, every one of his friends was sitting in a chair in the Institute, looking at him as though they were about to break bad news. Jace had come up to his room a few minutes ago and told him that they were having an urgent meeting downstairs, so he had expected to hear about a demon attack or something similar. He was not expecting this.

"So Alec-" Izzy began.

"Oh no. What is this, some sort of intervention? This," he waved his hand to indicate the general way they were grouped together, all clearly about to start speaking, " is kind of freaky. So I'm gonna go back up and finish my report, if this isn't anything urgent." It wasn't that Alec didn't want to talk to his family, it was just that he was getting really tired of having the same conversation with them. It was bad enough when it was just with one of them, but now with five of them? No thanks. 

"Oh but it is urgent." Jace had somehow managed to slip in between Alec and the door. "You are in urgent danger of having a boring summer."

"So we thought we should all go somewhere together. You know, just to have fun." Clary spoke up from behind him.

"Doesn't that sound nice, big brother?" Izzy asked. "A break from all of this?"

"But how can we just up and go? With Mom and Dad in Idris, I'm pretty much in charge of the Institute. I can't just leave at the drop of a hat! Besides, who knows what Valentine's next move is, but we shouldn't take his child to somewhere other than the protection of an Institute. He might come after you. After all, he has before." Alec felt he was being perfectly reasonable here. It wasn't that he didn't want to go somewhere- a trip with his friends sounded like a great idea, actually- he just didn't think it was possible.

"It will be fine. It's not like there aren't any other Shadowhunters here, after all. And if Valentine comes for us, we'll fight him off. Right Clary?" Jace looked over at his girlfriend, who was curled up in her armchair. She nodded.

"Oaky, fine," Alec huffed. "But where are we even going? When?"

"We're gonna go to Florida!" Max looked up from his book. He had gotten the next in the series a few days ago, and had hardly put it down since. "For my birthday!"

"We're gonna go to the con while we're there, see the panel-" Simon trailed off when he noticed how only Max looked as excited as him. "I mean, Max and I are anyway."

"We were thinking of leaving in a few days," Izzy said. "Spending a week down there."

"So you guys already planned it out without me, huh?" Alec thought he probably should have been angry, or at the very least irritated, that his friends had already decided he would be coming without talking to him first. Instead, he just felt happy. He really did need some time away- pouring your life into work keeps you busy, but you occasionally have to take a break. He was grateful that they had realized this even before he had. Most of all, he was excited for the trip.

"Well," Clary started nervously.

"Relax, it's fine," Alec said. "It's gonna be a fun time."

"YOU?" Jace faked a gasp of astonishment. "Having FUN? Who are you and what have you done with my _parabatai_?"

"I do have fun sometimes, you know," Alec rolled his eyes at Jace.

"That's news to me!" Izzy laughed. "Maybe you'll even meet somebody," she winked.

"I don't know, that seems like a stretch," Alec said.

"Yeah Iz, he agreed to have a good time but all of this at once? It's too much!" Simon joked.

Everybody laughed at that. Over the next couple hours, the general idea for the trip was solidified into a definite plan. The meeting dispersed slowly after Max had to go to bed and Clary and Simon had to head home. Everyone was looking forward to their vacation.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the road trip! Cheesy tourist traps, long car rides, and your typical fluff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who needs chapters that have a consistent word count? Not me, that's who. This is way longer than it was supposed to be... oops.

When the morning of the trip finally arrived, Alec found himself awake much earlier than he would have liked to be. Before the sun was even up, Max had barreled into his room with the loud cry of "Get up get up get up! We're gonna leave soon!"

Still half asleep, Alec opened one eye to look at the clock. "Max, it's _five in the morning_. Let me sleep. Besides, I thought we were leaving when Simon got here?"

The early hour did not seem to affect Max, who was so excited he was practically bouncing where he stood. "Well, yeah, but still! That could happen any time right?"

It was, in Alec's opinion, far too early to be having this, or really any, conversation. "He already told us he'd be here at nine, remember? Go back to sleep, you're gonna be really tired later." He barely stayed awake long enough to see Max run out of the room, no doubt to go pester Isabelle.

  


Alec was marginally more awake when Simon and Clary pulled up, almost an hour after they had promised to arrive. For the last few days, he had avoided thinking about the upcoming trip by telling himself that it was still a long time away. Now that they were about to leave, he was abruptly confronted with its presence. While he definitely felt excited, and happy about a few days with no responsibilities, he was also very nervous. For Izzy and Jace, the next almost two weeks would be full of parties, which were things he had absolutely no interest in (and was actually somewhat scared of) and things that his siblings would undoubtedly try and drag him to in an attempt to get him to "get out more." That was not going to be fun. The rest of the trip, though? He had no clue how vacations were supposed to be, but supposedly they were fantastic.

"Hey guys, sorry we're late!" Clary called, hopping out of the passenger door of Simon's van. The van was decorated with graffiti-like designs advertising the latest name of Simon's band in a variety of colors, and looked decidedly questionable. "My mom decided to give me the 'be safe, don't do drugs, blah blah' talk when I was already running behind."

Simon rolled his eyes. "As if going on vacation is more dangerous than fighting demons or deranged psychopath fathers." At some point he had gotten out of the van and moved to lean on the back bumper, which had been at some point spray-painted neon yellow.

Clary laughed. "I know, right? She's just being a mom, I guess. So who's ready to hit the road?"

They had decided to drive down to Florida, a road trip which would take three days each way. Alec had expected them to Portal to their destination, since that is how Shadowhunters generally travel long distances. However, as soon as he asked how they were getting a Portal, Clary shouted "It's a road trip, obviously!" while Izzy laughed "We're not Portaling, brother dear." "That would ruin the aesthetic," Simon added. The 'aesthetic' apparently involved driving down the entire Eastern Seaboard in Simon's old van and somehow cramming six people and all their luggage into the vehicle.

Simon swung open the doors to the back of the van. "All right, let's load it up!"

Alec squinted at the available trunk space. It looked like it could hold the bags of, at most, two more people. "How's all this," he gestured at the large amount of bags on the ground, "going to fit in _there_?"

Jace snorted. "My trunk-packing abilities are beyond what your mind can imagine! Watch and learn."

For about five minutes, everyone looked on in a mixture of amusement and pity as Jace attempted to cram a truly incredible amount of luggage into the van. Finally, Jace sighed, defeated. "Clary," he asked, "what is even in all of these?" 

"Food," Clary replied. "Mom packed a cooler and Luke gave us some snacks."

"So why does it feel like it's full of bricks?" Jace muttered.

Clary was barely restraining herself from laughing. "Would you like some help?"

"No!" Jace exclaimed. "I've got this."

Simon raised an eyebrow. "Impress me."

Ten minutes later, Jace admitted defeat and was quickly showed up by Simon expertly accomplishing the job in only a couple minutes. "I am wowed," he said, turning to face the group, "by Jace's skill. Simply astonished, in fact."

Izzy and Clary both laughed. Jace tried to look angry, but everyone could see him trying to fight a smile. "I could've done it," he insisted.

"You wish," Simon replied.

"Are we gonna go now or what?" Max asked impatiently.

"Whenever you're ready, little brother," Izzy replied.

"Shotgun!" Clary yelled, racing to stand next to the passenger door.

"So who wants to drive first?" Simon asked.

Alec attempted to make himself invisible. Jace squirmed. Even Isabelle appeared less than confident.

"What, no volunteers? You're gonna have to drive sometime, guys," Simon chuckled.

"We can't drive," Izzy stated. When Simon started to raise his eyebrows in disbelief, she continued. "We've never needed to- here in New York, the subway is so much easier, and cars don't work in Idris."

"Besides," Jace broke in, "it's hard to get a driver's license when, legally speaking, you don't exist."

Simon looked shocked. "So I'll just drive the entire way then, I guess. Great."

Alec was surprised. In the entire time that Izzy and Max had been planning the trip with Simon and Clary, Izzy had never once mentioned that Simon was the only one with a driver's license. Clary had her permit, but she was still too young to drive without a parent. It seemed rude of them to have dumped the over-twenty-four-hour drive on Simon with no warning. Except, there wasn't much they could do about it now, with the van packed and everyone ready to go. Max was poking his head out of the door, staring impatiently at everyone to _get a move on already_.

"You know I'll drive!" Clary said helpfully.

"No you won't. I'm not going to get pulled over and have to explain all of this," here Simon gestured to the Shadowhunters, whose runes and ever-present weapons were in plain view," to cops. And neither of us can pay for a ticket. Legal drivers only." With those words, he climbed into the driver's seat.

Izzy joined Max in the third row while Alec and Jace settled in to the second. From the inside, it became clearer than ever that the van, which smelled like a mix between some sort of pine tree scented air freshener and old takeout with a hint of dirty socks, was not meant to hold this many people. Clary had put in a CD of something that sounded like it would have been mainstream ten years ago with the bass cranked far too high. Alec leaned on the window, fully intending to zone out until their first stop.

In their road trip planning excitement, someone had suggested that it would be a good idea to stop and see the sights along the way. This soon morphed into visits to the most ridiculous touristy locations anyone could find. Their first stop would be the World's Largest Lightbulb, one of Max's suggestions. It was a good hour and a half from New York with light traffic, so they were confident it would take them longer. By the time they pulled up, everyone except Simon and Jace, who was busy twirling a small knife between his fingers, had fallen asleep. The silence after Simon shut off the engine woke everyone up.

Since it was the middle of the day on a Thursday, there were only a few other cars in the parking lot, and the attraction was mostly deserted. In front of them stood a strangely shaped tower topped with a thirteen-foot-tall lightbulb. The whole affair gave off the aura of something that wasn't sure if it wanted to be educational or a cheap tourist pit stop. Alec suspected Max had wanted to see the lightbulb due to its ridiculousness- after all, who needs a lightbulb that big? Did it even work?- and completely ignored the fact that most of the site was a museum about Thomas Edison. Max, like most nine year olds, did not want to spend his day in a museum and quickly grew bored. 

After excitedly running up to the tower, staring at it for a minute, and concluding there was nothing overly awe-inspiring about it, Max dragged everyone into the museum in the hopes that there would be something fun to do inside. There wasn't.

"What do you _mean_ it's a museum?" Max asked.

Jace laughed. "Guess someone didn't read the brochure." He then picked up an available brochure and began to read dramatically.

"But that's _boring_ ," Max complained.

Izzy walked in the door, somehow having escaped the mandatory roundup. "Lunch is outside." When both Jace and Alec began to make a face at the idea of her cooking, she continued: "Jocelyn packed a picnic. Clary has it set up."

Relieved to be presented with something to do, everyone made their way out to a picnic table in the shade. Clary had covered it in the contents of the coolers: sandwiches, watermelon, potato salad, and cans of Coke. Though it hadn't been very long since they left New York, everyone dug into their food, and they spent a long time talking and laughing and eating their picnic.

  


The road trip spirit was in the air when they loaded the van back up that afternoon. Now that they had an idea of what to expect, they were simultaneously dreading and looking forward to the next few days. That day, they had one more stop to make and then a long drive to where they planned to spend the night. No one was sure whose idea it was, but someone had suggested they stop in Philadelphia and see all the typical sights: Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and so on. While all of this sounded vaguely museum-like, it was the most interesting stop they could find (besides Washington, DC, since it would be late by the time they got there) before their destination for the day of northern Virginia.

A short while after leaving their first stop, they found themselves driving through downtown Philly looking for a parking spot. After they finally found one, they began to make their way down to Independence Hall. Along the way, they passed three different Ben Franklin impersonators. Jace decided to confuse them by talking in Ye Olde Fashioned English, usually sentences that made little to no sense.

The actual tour was fairly short and boring- like they had expected, it was a museum, and their visit consisted of following the other tourists and school groups in a long line. Every so often they could hear snippets of a tour guide's speech, but they were being funneled along too fast to catch anything more than a sentence or two. In no time, they passed the main attraction (so fast that Jace, who had been distracted by a couple of pigeons fighting out the window, missed it entirely). The whole affair took less than twenty minutes.

Walking through the streets afterward, they found themselves in front of a museum promising examples of "abnormal anatomy and bizarre medical instruments." Simon, always curious about things like this, started to walk up the path to the door.

"Abnormal anatomy," Jace chuckled, following him. "Now that could be funny."

Everyone else had no choice but to follow. Once inside, they were greeted with one of the most bizarre sights they had ever seen.

"It looks like the Silent City," Clary whispered.

The wall of skulls was reminiscent of the way the Silent Brothers used the bones of dead Shadowhunters to build their city, though here the skulls were merely displayed on shelves.

Simon began to wander through the museum, reading every plaque. Occasionally he would turn and tell Izzy, who was walking with him, an interesting fact he had just learned. 

Jace and Clary had gone off looking for, in Jace's words, "something _really_ disturbing." Alec suspected he wanted to find some piece of extremely inappropriate information to shock everyone with at some point in the future.

Alec found himself being dragged from exhibit to exhibit by Max, whose attention span was incredibly small. He tried not to feel resentful that, when the group split up, both of his siblings were with their significant other and he was with his little brother. _This is what you want_ , he reminded himself. _They're happy, and you love spending time with Max._ However, he couldn't stop himself from being a little jealous.

"Alec, look!" Max yelled from across the room. "They've got pickled skin! _Pickled skin!_ In a _jar_!"

He made a face. "That's disgusting. Really cool, but disgusting." After a minute, he added "and keep your voice down, we're inside."

Max rolled his eyes and raced off to something else.

  


When they got back in the van, everyone settled in for a long ride. It would be about four hours until they reached their hotel, and they hadn't planned more stops for the day. Clary played a CD of what were clearly supposed to be road trip sing-a-longs, except none of the Shadowhunters knew any of the words. That was one side effect of separating themselves from mundanes, Alec thought. Shadowhunters had no idea about anything to do with pop culture. Although he found himself grateful for that fact several times during the playlist that Clary had stubbornly kept playing. He had not been subjected to these songs before and hopefully would never be again. 

Simon and Clary sang along to some songs, more frequently the later it became. Max asked "Are we there yet?" or "How much longer?" every few minutes until Simon passed back his phone. Izzy set up a game for him to play, and Max fell silent as he stared at the screen. Every so often, Jace would make a bad pun, prompting everyone else to groan in disappointment. Alec believed that Jace spent the rest of the time coming up with the worst jokes he could think of. Otherwise, most of the ride was spent in comfortable silence or meaningless conversation.

The first day of their road trip came to an end when Simon pulled into the parking lot of the Sunrise Inn, which was in the running for the shadiest hotel Alec had ever seen. The Hotel Dumort had it beat, but only barely. The Sunrise Inn was a two-story motel painted in garish shades of yellow, orange, and pink, presumably to mimic a sunrise. It sat in between a tiny used car lot with a chain link fence around it and a diner that had appeared to have seen its glory days in the '50s.

"All right gang, here we are," Simon announced.

"Here?" Jace asked incredulously.

"Yes, here," Izzy replied. "Where did you expect? We can't make it all the way to Florida in one day!"

"Well... I know that..." Jace sputtered.

"No 5-star hotels, man," Simon said in a falsely sympathetic voice. "We're doing this the old fashioned way."

"Sketchy roadside motels for the win!" Clary interjected.

Sensing that this particular motel was a thought-out plan, Jace sighed. "Who's going to check us in?"

"I'll go," Izzy volunteered. "The rest of you can bring in the bags."

The two rooms were tiny and had four beds between them, but they were tired enough after their first day on the road that they didn't let it bother them. Everyone was asleep in no time.

  


They were back on the road early after a quick breakfast of hotel waffles. Their first stop for the day was almost six hours away, so they were prepared for a long, boring drive. Instead of giving Max Simon's phone when he started to complain, Clary suggested a game for them to all play. "The sign game," as she called it, was a very basic way to pass the time. She used to play with Luke when she and Simon would go upstate as kids. They had to find words on billboards that started with a certain letter of the alphabet, until they had found the entire alphabet. This deteriorated into a game of I Spy, which was surprisingly hard to play when driving. After a while, Clary pulled out the Mad Libs app on her phone and they had some fun with the word games. The six hours felt like barely any time at all.

They began seeing signs for their destination over 100 miles away. Billboards with cheesy slogans like "You're always a weiner at Pedro's!" accompanied by a large drawing of a sausage and, in slightly smaller print, "You never sausage a place!" Every few miles, another equally ridiculous sign would appear, leaving everyone torn between amusement and questioning why they were headed to such a strange place. Cheap cardboard signs for food stands (boiled peanuts! Local peaches!) lined the road, along with a series of signs for a wig shop (Hi Fashion wigs! Designer wigs!). Every time they passed one of these, they were forcibly reminded of how different the south was from New York, and not in a way they entirely liked. 

South of the Border, their first stop, was nothing that would be seen anywhere near their home city. The sprawling complex of neon lights and plastic decorations was mostly abandoned and looked as though it had been left to crumble about thirty years ago. A far cry from the paradise the website advertised, the theme park more closely resembled an old carnival. However, lunchtime had passed a couple hours ago, and everyone was hungry, so they got out of the van and made their way over to the restaurant. Surprisingly, it was operational, and to everyone's astonishment the hot dogs and milkshakes were very good.

They made their way over to the mini golf course after deciding that there really was no reason not to play a game. After one round, in which Jace and Izzy each made four hole-in-ones and Clary lost her ball in the river, they decided to head to the arcade instead. Simon fell asleep in a chair by the wall, as he was exhausted after all that driving. Max played almost all of the games, accumulating a pile of tickets. Alec had no idea how he managed it, but he seemed to have found a broken Skee Ball machine, as the machine just began shooting dozens tickets at him after a mediocre game. 

Thirty minutes later, everyone was ready to go, so they all piled back into the van. They only had to drive for another half hour to reach their next stop, the UFO Welcome Center.

When they arrived, all of their worst suspicions about the site were confirmed. That didn't detract from the experience, though- the fact that the destination was a flying saucer built in someone's backyard only made it better. 

"This is so _cool!_ " Max yelled, running ahead of them to enter the building. 

"Well, that's one word for it," Jace remarked wryly. "Really like the big 'UFOs Welcome' sign."

"Don't be rude," Clary berated. "It's creative. Would you ever have thought of making something like this?" Though she was trying to sound serious, they could all tell she was barely holding in a laugh.

"It's cute," Izzy decided. "In a weird way, but still."

"Isn't it awesome?" Max somehow appeared behind them.

"Yeah it is, kid," Alec said affectionately. 

Max's enthusiasm and the sheer strangeness of the site were contagious. The rest of the drive was spent in good spirits. Every so often, a short conversation about the sights they saw that day or the insanity of the south would be had, but most of the ride was spent in silence. When the van pulled up to that night's sketchy motel, they grabbed some free cookies from the front desk, made their way to the rooms, and promptly passed out.

  


The last day of the road trip came with a thunderstorm. Everything was fine for the first couple hours on the road, and then it hit. Between one second and the next, the day transitioned from partially overcast to dumping so much rain nobody could see thirty feet from the windshield. 

Simon slowed until the van was nearly crawling. "Where'd that come from?" He complained.

No one answered. Most likely, no one heard him, as the pounding of rain on the roof made so much noise they could barely hear themselves think. After a few minutes, it lightened up to a steady misting, which helped considerably with the amount of noise inside the van.

It was still drizzling when they pulled up to their first and only stop of the day, the Smallest Church in America. 

"I think my bedroom might be bigger than this," Clary said.

"You're probably right," Simon agreed. "Actually, this could fit inside my room with space left over."

"I wonder if they still have weapons available for Nephilim here," Jace mused. 

"I doubt it," Izzy chuckled. "It's a tourist trap, after all."

"You never know," Alec pointed out. "What if you needed to fight a demon at a tourist trap?"

"See, I'm right." Jace fist-bumped Alec. "Got to protect those tourists."

Izzy rolled her eyes. "We'll see."

"I win!" Jace shouted triumphantly a few minutes later. He emerged from the church holding a seraph blade. "It's a small stash, but it's there."

"Put that back, Jace," Clary said. "We don't need any weapons on our vacation. Or," she hastily corrected herself, "we shouldn't."

"You know," said Simon, who entered the conversation while walking around the building, "this isn't even the smallest church in America?"

"What do you mean it's not the smallest?" Clary asked incredulously.

"There's one less than half this size in Niagara." Simon held out a picture of the smaller church as confirmation.

"What's even the point? You probably can't even stand up in that one," Alec pointed out. 

"It says here that two people can be in it at once," Simon read from his phone.

Everyone looked at the church next to them in disappointment. "Still impressive," Clary reasoned.

"That's just lame," Max stated.

"I bet that one doesn't have a weapons stash," Izzy said. "I don't think one would fit."

"You're probably right," Jace agreed.

"Should we head on, or stay here for a little longer?" Simon asked.

"Head on," everyone said at the same time.

They all scrambled back into the van, grateful to be out of the rain. The last leg of their trip would take about four hours, and then they would have finally reached the beach. Most of the drive was spent in relative silence, broken only by the new CD Clary was playing. Alec had no idea what this one was supposed to be, and he wasn't going to ask.

About an hour after leaving the church, they swung through a drive-thru to pick up burgers for lunch. Simon, Clary, and Izzy had insisted on burgers because "it's traditional road trip food," and refused to stop anywhere else. Alec had no clue why following the road trip tradition was so important, but apparently it was, and he wasn't going to question it.

  


They finally arrived at the beach house in the late afternoon. The town was very small, especially for people from New York. It was mostly made up of a bunch of small shops that were used by the tourists populating the dozens of beach houses along the shore. The place tried for, and achieved, an old-time American vibe- each shop had its own colorful awning outside and a sign in the window advertising homemade ice cream or crafts from local artists or the best shrimp in town. The houses themselves were all one or two stories, painted in varying shades of brown, yellow, green, and blue, and constructed in the typical beach style. That is to say, it was an idyllic beach town, not yet ruined by all the trappings of modern tourism.

It turned out that sitting in a car all day was exhausting, so they didn't spend much time looking around the house. The only things that Alec did notice were the abundance of pastel colors and seashell decorations, as well as the fact that he had his own room. He had sorely missed that over the last couple of days, as he had shared his motel room with Jace and Max. Having any sort of alone time was difficult when the entire day was spent in a van with five other people or in a motel room with his brothers. Everyone immediately retreated to their own rooms and fell asleep instantly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why is it so long??  
> Let me know if you liked it! Or if you hated it.  
> All places mentioned in this chapter actually exist (or are closely based off a real place). Seriously, all of them. I tried to make the descriptions as accurate as possible, but it's hard to describe somewhere you've never been or haven't been to in a long time.  
> I swear Magnus will get here soon. I am pretty sure he will show up next chapter. I know, it's in the Malec tag but Magnus isn't even here yet? It's coming. I kind of stopped focusing on Alec here too but it just didn't seem right to for this chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first couple days of vacation :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What even is a consistent updating schedule haha

It was still dark when Alec woke up the next morning. He hadn't bothered to close the curtains on the window the night before- though truth be told he hadn't bothered to do much of anything- so he could see the stars hanging low over the water. Since he had never been one to sleep in, Alec figured he had simply woken up a few minutes early. He decided to make a cup of coffee and wait for his family to wake up.

The walk downstairs was the first time Alec was able to truly look around the place he would be staying for the next week. In the moonlight, the pastels he had noticed the previous afternoon were washed out and faded, everything cast in a gentle blue light. The house wasn't large- in fact it was just big enough to comfortably house the six of them. The main room was open and its skylight illuminated most of the house. The kitchen was separated by a bar counter, and it was there Alec headed. While fixing himself a coffee, he noticed the clock on the microwave. 3:00 AM. It was earlier than he thought- several hours earlier. However, he wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep, so he settled down in a chair on the porch. From here, dunes and ocean grass blocked most of the view of the water. At some point, the sound of waves crashing and the gradual fading of the stars were replaced by black as sleep overtook him.

  


“Time to wake up, big brother.” Izzy’s voice startled Alec awake. “Si made breakfast.”

Alec squinted and looked around. He wasn't sure, but it seemed far too bright out for breakfast. His still-sleeping brain could only respond “Hmmmm?”

“Well, more of lunch, really,” she said. “Or whatever meal you have at two-thirty in the afternoon. We got up a little while ago and went to the store. Jace convinced us to let you sleep, but the food’s going to get cold.”

“All right, I’m coming.”

When he walked into the kitchen, Alec saw that Simon had indeed made breakfast. Plates of bacon, eggs, and toast were set up buffet-style on the bar, and everyone had a plate.

“You’re up!” Max came running over to him. “They wouldn't let me wake you up, but then they said we can't go down to the beach without you.” He turned to Izzy and Jace. “Can we go now?”

“Not until the food’s gone!” Simon said from across the room. 

Max ran to get more food. He was already wearing his bathing suit and was clearly impatient with his older siblings for taking so long.

About an hour later, everyone was ready to go. Setting up their tent, Jace decided, was too hard and anyway they would have to take it down for the night soon, so they spread some towels out around a single umbrella. Clary claimed the spot in the shade even after applying sunscreen twice, since in her words “I am pale and burn easily.” Max dragged Izzy, Jace, and Simon into the water with him. He tried to make Alec go swimming too, but Alec stayed under the umbrella with Clary. After all, she wasn't the only one who was extremely pale. Also, he didn't know how to swim. Not that this was a fact he shared with anyone. He could swim well enough to keep his head above water, but not well enough to feel comfortable in the waves and possible rip currents of the Gulf.

They sat in silence for a while, watching the rest of the group splash around in the shallows. They never went very deep, since Max was just learning how to swim. Some time later, he went to play with a couple boys from the next house over. They had a skim board and the three of them were trying to see who could manage to not fall off. Once, the board shot right out from under his feet, causing him to fall backwards. Jace, Simon, and Isabelle made their way back to the umbrella, keeping an eye on Max the whole time. Izzy laid her towel out in the sand, as she had apparently decided she was going to get a tan. Meanwhile, Simon and Jace seemed to be arguing about Jace’s surfing skills.

“I would be a wonderful surfer!” Jace pointed to a windsurfer who was doing a complicated flip. “I bet I could do that!”

“I bet you wouldn't even be able to stand up on the board,” Simon laughed. “Besides, windsurfing and regular surfing are different sports. So if you could do that, it doesn't guarantee you'd be able to catch a wave without the-” he pointed to the bright green cloth “parachute.”

“Parachute!” Jace laughed. “It’s a sail!”

“It is not!” Simon whipped out his phone to look it up. “I have no signal, so I can't prove I'm right. But still. You cannot surf.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“I want to see you catch a wave then,” Simon challenged. “Prove me wrong.”

“Oh, I will,” Jace said. “Tomorrow. You’ll see.”

  


When the wind started to pick up, pelting them with sand, they packed up and went back up to the house. Jace grilled hot dogs on the back porch for dinner. Izzy tried to help, but accidentally caught one of the buns on fire.

Max regaled everyone with tales of the day, even though they had been together the whole time. His enthusiasm for recounting the events made them seem even more fun than they had been. Maybe that was how exciting they had been for him, Alec thought. Life was more fun when you were nine. He had mostly just overheated from the sun.

After Max went to bed, they sat around on the porch in a companionable silence. It seemed like the perfect idyllic spot, as though they were in their own little world made only of the teens in the porch and their brother sleeping inside. At about 10, however this illusion was rudely shattered by loud music from the house next door. The volume was up so high it could have been playing from their own house, and they could feel the bass. 

“Would you turn that down!” Simon yelled.

If anything, it got louder. The party was still going strong when Alec went to bed. At around midnight, someone had set up a bonfire on the beach, _which was against the law_ , Alec couldn't help himself from thinking, and several tipsy partygoers gathered around it. He finally managed to fall asleep when the ever-present music faded to background noise.

  


The next day progressed much the same as the first, only it started a few hours earlier. Izzy and Max had decided that, in order to claim a prime spot on the beach, they had to get there early. This led to Jace and Simon setting up the tent when the sun was barely up. They came back up to the house for breakfast, then returned with everyone else when the beach was just starting to fill up.

Alec felt lost. While his siblings spent the day playing on the beach, he couldn't bring himself to relax just yet. A lifetime of always being on edge, always having to be prepared for anything at a moment's notice, had left him almost incapable of processing free time. What were you supposed to _do _when your day didn't come with a schedule, as it did in the Institute? As it had, loosely, even in the van? As a result, he spent most of the day wandering around the beach house aimlessly, getting up to do something almost as soon as he sat down. Since these were never real tasks, his day was spent without accomplishing anything besides gaining a vague sense of boredom.__

__His sister, however, had put her time to good use- finding out what was up with the big party the night before. And then sharing her findings with him and Jace._ _

__“So apparently the house next door is owned by one Magnus Bane,” Izzy said. She had cornered her brothers before Simon, Clary, and Max returned from the beach and was determined to enlighten them. “He actually owns like all the houses for rent on the block, but he stays in that one and throws a party every night all summer. If you get an invitation, you’re lucky, ‘cause he barely gives any out. But if you live or are staying on the island, you can show up. Supposedly the most fun around.”_ _

__Alec sighed. “We’re away from the city for a few days and you already miss it, huh?”_ _

__“The city’s fun,” Jace interjected. “Not that here is not fun, but the city’s always fun.”_ _

__“Exactly,” Izzy agreed. “You can't tell me you’re having the time of your life wandering the house or huddling under the tent.”_ _

__Alec couldn't disagree. “I wouldn't be having the time of my life at some rave either.”_ _

__“Did I ever say rave?” Izzy feigned offense._ _

__“No, but with you that's what party means.”_ _

__“”He has a fair point, Iz,” Jace said reluctantly._ _

__“Oh come on, it’ll be fun. Something different at least.”_ _

__Alec could already tell this was something his sister had made up her mind about. It was already going to be hard to talk her out of it, and if she got Jace on her side, it would be impossible. “I’ll stay here and look after Max.”_ _

__“You don't need to do that!” Izzy chirped. “Si is going to. There’s something about that show they watch? They’re excited anyway.”_ _

__“Live a little, Alec,” Jace said._ _

__“Fine,” he relented. “But I'm leaving if it’s boring.”_ _

__“It won't be,” Izzy smiled._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Magnus finally showed up! Except not really... I swear he will actually be in the next chapter.  
> Please comment and tell me what you think I really do appreciate it and it makes me want to write  
> Finally, does anyone know how to do those page break things with the little diamonds or lines or whatever? You know what I mean. If anybody can tell me how to do that, please please let me know in the comments. Thanks :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the party. Malec meet! Finally! And talk for a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im terrible im sorry. the lack of updates... I read 6 books, got into a new fandom, went to a concert, etc since the last time I was writing.  
> MAGNUS HAS ARRIVED  
> So I think this is a lot closer to book canon than show canon... either way this is a universe where Magnus doesn't use a glamour on his eyes unless he really needs to.  
> I've never been to a party like this so I'm just making it up. Really I'm just making it all up and because I 1)cannot flirt to save my life and 2) am not funny I apologize for the dialogue. I tried.  
> When I was planning this out, my outline was quite literally "Gatsby but gayer". If anyone has read The Great Gatsby, that's pretty much where this scene comes from. In which Alec is Nick, Izzy is (kind of) Jordan, and Magnus is Gatsby.  
> Finally: there should only be one or two more chapters to this mess, which will hopefully be posted within a reasonable timeframe. No promises though.

Alec was not having a good time. In fact, he almost envied Simon, stuck watching Max back at their house. At least there it would be quieter. And there would be less people.

  
The music was so loud he couldn’t hear himself think and the bass was shaking the room. For this party being held in another beach house, it felt surprisingly like a club. Not that he really knew what a club felt like- he had only been in one or two, on occasions much like this one. All the furniture had been removed from the room except for a couple tables in the corners. A bar had been set up along one wall and a dance floor installed in the middle of the room.

  
“What’s wrong, big brother?” Izzy spun over to Alec. She had to practically shout to be heard over the music.

  
He shrugged. “Nothing, just not my scene.”

  
“Let’s go get a drink,” she suggested.

  
Alec raised an eyebrow. “I think it would be a good idea for one of us to stay sober tonight.”

  
“I’m sober!” she exclaimed.

  
Alec snorted. Izzy wasn’t drunk, but she had clearly had a couple drinks. She was slightly flushed and her eyes were a little wide.

  
“Okay, fine,” she conceded. “Have you seen Clary and Jace? I was just talking to them…”

  
“They disappeared a few minutes ago. I think they went outside.”

  
She giggled. “Oh. I see.” She waited a minute, then continued. “I’m going to dance now.” She was quickly lost in the mass of people on the dance floor.  
Alec had absolutely no intention of subjecting himself to that, so he claimed one of the tables. As he sat sipping a cup of water, he wondered how long he would have to stay to appease Isabelle. Probably about fifteen more minutes. After that, he would go back to their house. He had a couple books he had meant to finish that would be far more enjoyable than this. To pass the time, he decided to observe the rather interesting crowd.

  
Even with the distinctly club-like atmosphere, most of the people were clearly not from a city. There were far more flannels tied around waists and surf brands than slinky dresses and high heels, and less than a quarter of the guests had ridiculously colored hair. However, now that he was looking closely, some things did seem to be slightly _off_ about some of the partygoers. A couple dancing near the fringes of the dance floor had ears that were a little too pointy; a few of glasses of wine looked a little too dark; some drinks were shining and somewhat sparkly. _Downworlders_ , Alec immediately thought.

  
About two seconds later, he decided he was being ridiculous. It was just the weird lighting. After all, there was no way that the one party they happened across was a Downworld rave. There probably weren’t even many Downworlders in the area- a sleepy beach town, population 3,000, wasn’t exactly the place they liked to hang out. Most preferred to stay in cities. After all, it’s easier for a clan of vampires to go unnoticed in the back alleys of New York than in a town where everyone knows everyone.

  
Immediately after making this decision, a man sat down at Alec’s table. “Hello.”

  
“Excuse me,” Alec replied without looking at him, “but why are you sitting at my table?” 

  
“Well,” the man said, “you looked bored, so I thought I’d come over and see why. But I’ll leave you alone then.”

  
Alec turned his head to look at him, and was stunned. Sitting next to him was quite possibly the most beautiful person he had ever seen. The stranger looked to be at least part Asian, judging from his slightly dark skin and the curve of his eyes (which were ringed by eyeliner and some sort of glitter), and _he looked good_.

  
“No, you don’t have to,” he stammered.

  
The stranger turned a corner of his mouth up in a slight grin. “Okay.” He was aimlessly stirring a shockingly green drink with a small straw as he spoke. “So, what brings you here tonight?”

  
“My sister,” Alec admitted. “Her and my brother are a lot more into this sort of thing than me. I don’t really do-” he waved his hand around “this. Parties.”

  
“Yeah,” the man chuckled, “I can tell.”

  
They sat in awkward silence for a minute, in which Alec was definitely not checking out the stranger out of the corner of his eye. “I assume you don’t want to dance?”

  
“Um, not really? That’s kind of why I’m sitting over here. Do you?” Alec replied confusedly.

  
He shrugged. “It’s something to do. Can be fun. Of course, other things can be fun too,” he said, raising an eyebrow.

  
Alec choked. He could tell his face was starting to turn red. The other man started laughing. This small movement caused his face, which had previously been partially shadowed, to be illuminated by a beam of light. Alec found himself staring again. At the man’s outrageous hair, which was styled to extreme heights and streaked with purple. At his eyes, which had looked to be a warm brown before, but now seemed gold-green. And which had vertical pupils. Like a cat.

  
“Are you a warlock?” Alec blurted out, then internally cursed his apparently malfunctioning verbal filter.

  
“Why yes, Shadowhunter, I am.” He twirled a hand; blue mist curled around his fingers.

  
“Wh-? How did you-” Alec stammered. “I’m-”

  
“Carrying a seraph blade and have clearly visible runes?” he suggested innocently.

  
“Well-” Alec blushed an even brighter red and looked down at the Voyance rune on the back of his right hand. “Yeah, I guess that was pretty obvious, huh?”

  
The man smiled. “Somewhat.”

  
“So, Shadowhunter-” he frowned. “You know, I really can’t keep calling you ‘Shadowhunter’, can I? It sounds so formal.”

  
“It’s Alexander- Alec.”

  
“Alexander, how did a Shadowhunter who doesn’t like parties end up at one of mine?”

  
Alec was stunned. He could barely form words. Not that he was very good at that normally anyway. “Wait, you’re- This is your party?”

  
“I should probably have introduced myself,” he mused. “I am the great and powerful Magnus Bane,” he accented his words with a flourish of blue magic. He seemed to be both speaking seriously and attempting to imitate a stage magician for comedic effect. “And welcome to my humble abode.”

  
Alec couldn’t help himself; he started laughing. He wasn’t sure exactly what it was that set him off, but suddenly he found the whole situation to be hilarious.

  
Clearly, this wasn’t the reaction Magnus was expecting. He looked to be trying (and failing) to hide his confusion.

  
“Sorry,” Alec sputtered, “it’s just- all this,” he waved a hand to indicate everything in their general vicinity.

  
Magnus raised a questioning eyebrow.

  
“I just- we came down here to get away from all this for a while, and it only takes three days to end up right back where we came from,” Alec explained, his laughter dying down.

  
“ _We_ meaning the brother and sister you came here with?”

  
“Yeah. They’re around. Somewhere.” After a pause, he continued. “And the rest of my family too.”

  
“And what did you mean, _end up right back where we came from_?”

  
“Well, this, being here,” he used ‘here’ not to mean at the party, but rather the town as a whole, possibly even the entire state. “This was supposed to be our break from the Shadow World. And now-” he trailed off.

  
Magnus’s eyes lit up in understanding. This was about as far from a mundane beach trip as you could get. “Would you like to go outside? There are going to be fireworks in a couple hours, but before that most people stay in here.”

  
Alec grinned. “That sounds nice.”

  
They stood up and Magnus took Alec’s hand, leading him towards the porch door, where they slipped outside; partygoers unaware of their host’s departure.

  
\-----

  
Jace’s jaw dropped. “Izzy! IZZY!”

  
“Yes?” Jace had just pulled her off the dance floor, and she looked to be extremely irritated with him.

  
“Alec just left! With some guy! They were HOLDING HANDS!” Jace was practically bouncing with shock and confusion.

  
Isabelle smiled slyly. “Go get ‘em, tiger,” she muttered under her breath.

  
Understanding dawned on Jace. “So that’s why he never went on any of those dates I set up.”

  
“You set up dates for him?” She laughed. “Wait.” Her face suddenly became serious. “Who was this guy you saw him with?”

  
“I don’t know, some guy!” Jace exclaimed. “Tall guy,” he added as an afterthought. “Sparkly.”

  
Izzy’s expression changed to something resembling a proud parent. “Good for him,” she said appreciatively. “ _Sparkly_.” She shook her head, laughing softly to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So??  
> Did the Malec meeting live up to your expectations?  
> I convey my emotions with my eyebrows and it just seemed like a very Magnus thing to do in this scenario. if any of this is OOC I apologize. please let me know.  
> That Jace & Izzy scene at the end was about half my reason for writing this fic, but I'm not sure it flowed as well as I had hoped. whatever.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope y'all enjoyed! Comments are appreciated :) Was the characterization okay? I've never written these characters before.  
> I will update this (I'm not sure when, but it will be soon. The upside of summer is plenty of time to sit and write.) because I'm really writing this for myself.


End file.
